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The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20060325184057/http://www.whatbooks.com/2005/mao_unknown.php
Mao : The Unknown Story
by Authors:
Jung Chang, Jon Halliday
Hardcover Description:
In the epilogue to her biography of Mao Tse-tung, Jung Chang and her husband and cowriter Jon Halliday lament that, "Today, Mao's portrait and his corpse still dominate Tiananmen Square in the heart of the Chinese capital." For Chang, author of Wild Swans, this fact is an affront, not just to history, but to decency. Mao: The Unknown Story does not contain a formal dedication, but it is clear that Chang is writing to honor the millions of Chinese who fell victim to Mao's drive for absolute power in his 50-plus-year struggle to dominate China and the 20th-century political landscape. From the outset, Chang and Halliday are determined to shatter the "myth" of Mao, and they succeed with the force, not just of moral outrage, but of facts. The result is a book, more indictment than portrait, that paints Mao as a brutal totalitarian, a thug, who unleashed Stalin-like purges of millions with relish and without compunction, all for his personal gain. Through the authors' unrelenting lens even his would-be heroism as the leader of the Long March and father of modern China is exposed as reckless opportunism, subjecting his charges to months of unnecessary hardship in order to maintain the upper hand over his rival, Chang Kuo-tao, an experienced military commander.
Using exhaustive research in archives all over the world, Chang and Halliday recast Mao's ascent to power and subsequent grip on China in the context of global events. Sino-Soviet relations, the strengths and weakness of Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese invasion of China, World War II, the Korean War, the disastrous Great Leap Forward, the vicious Cultural Revolution, the Vietnam War, Nixon's visit, and the constant, unending purges all, understandably, provide the backdrop for Mao's unscrupulous but invincible political maneuverings and betrayals. No one escaped unharmed. Rivals, families, peasants, city dwellers, soldiers, and lifelong allies such as Chou En-lai were all sacrificed to Mao's ambition and paranoia. Appropriately, the authors' consciences are appalled. Their biggest fear is that Mao will escape the global condemnation and infamy he deserves. Their astonishing book will go a long way to ensure that the pendulum of history will adjust itself accordingly. --Silvana Tropea
10 Second Interview: A Few Words with Jung Chang and Jon Halliday
Q: From idea to finished book, how long did Mao: The Unknown Story take to research and write? A: Over a decade.
Q: What was your writing process like? How did you two collaborate on this project? A: The research shook itself out by language. Jung did all the Chinese-language research, and Jon did the other languages, of which Russian was the most important, as Mao had a long-term intimate relationship with Stalin. After our research trips around the world, we would work in our separate studies in London. We would then rendezvous at lunch to exchange discoveries.
Q: Do you have any thoughts about how the book is, or will be received in China? Did that play a part in your writing of the book? A: The book is banned in China, because the current Communist regime is fiercely perpetuating the myth of Mao. Today Mao's portrait and his corpse still dominate Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, and the regime declares itself to be Mao's heir. The government blocked the distribution of an issue of The Far Eastern Economic Review, and told the magazine's owners, Dow Jones, that this was because that issue contained a review of our book. The regime also tore the review of our book out of The Economist magazine that was going to (very restricted) newsstands. We are not surprised that the book is banned. The regime's attitude had no influence on how we wrote the book. We hope many copies will find their way into China.
Q: What is the one thing you hope readers get from your book? A: Mao was responsible for the deaths of well over 70 million Chinese in peacetime, and he was bent on dominating the world. As China is today emerging as an economic and military power, the world can never regard it as a benign force unless Beijing rejects Mao and all his legacies. We hope our book will help push China in this direction by telling the truth about Mao.
Breakdown of a BIG Book: 5 Things You'll Learn from Mao: The Unknown Story
1. Mao became a Communist at the age of 27 for purely pragmatic reasons: a job and income from the Russians.
2. Far from organizing the Long March in 1934, Mao was nearly left behind by his colleagues who could not stand him and had tried to oust him several times. The aim of the March was to link up with Russia to get arms. The Reds survived the March because Chiang Kai-shek let them, in a secret horse-trade for his son and heir, whom Stalin was holding hostage in Russia.
3. Mao grew opium on a large scale.
4. After he conquered China, Mao's over-riding goal was to become a superpower and dominate the world: "Control the Earth," as he put it.
5. Mao caused the greatest famine in history by exporting food to Russia to buy nuclear and arms industries: 38 million people were starved and slave-driven to death in 1958-61. Mao knew exactly what was happening, saying: "half of China may well have to die."
Average Customer Rating:
such a biased book
I wonder whether the writers know how to write in an objective way. They ignored or delibrately chose to neglect facts that did not support their views, and only mentioned facts consistent with their views. They first set up a theory, "Mao is evil, ruthless, bad, bad and bad." Then they tried to attribute the facts listed in the book to this evil nature of Mao. This is so judgemental, not an objective way to represent history.
Mao -- THE GREAT DICTATOR, Persecutor and Tormentor of CHINA and of Chinese People
This is a great book that outlines and describes a picture of recent Chinese history in a very stark and revealing manner. It clearly shows that Mao was the biggest MONSTER of the 20th century! -- and that, is saying a LOT for one of the most bloodthirsty century in human history so far.
One should read it to learn about the level and depth of trauma and torture that Chinese society was subjected to by Mao. This will also start the reader on the path of learning about the roots of modern Chinese pshyche. This is especially important to do as Chinese prominence in the world increases. Also, this is a good lesson on how a totally selfish and ruthless individual can control, rule and degrade Chinese people and society.
This is not a cheerful read, and at times it is quite difficult, because of the level of depravity and ruthlessness that Mao's regime had perpetrated. Nevertheless, this is a very important, significant and innovative work that is a major contribution to study of modern Chinese history.
I would also like to thank the authors of the book for the original research, work and courage that it took to write and publish this biography of Mao.
Interesting, yet annoying
It is a very controversial book. I found tons of discussions on the web and wikipedia, but decided to read and decide for myself.
No doubt it is not objective, trying to prove in every phrase and page that Mao "was bad".
I expected to read a story, some history and decide for myself. What I found in the book was a bit annoying. I'd like to discover and decide, not to be led to one obvious conclusion (Yes, Mao was "BAD").
R
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Q: From idea to finished book, how long did Mao: The Unknown Story take to research and write?
such a biased book 
Mao -- THE GREAT DICTATOR, Persecutor and Tormentor of CHINA and of Chinese People 
Interesting, yet annoying 
